The Mat- The Ultimate Fondant Application System

I am super excited to have found this product by SweetWise called "The Mat"- the ultimate fondant application system.  I haven't yet bought it but I was so excited that I had to share with all my favorite readers out there!

Here's a wonderful video that shows not only how The Mat works, but also gives GREAT tips on how to correctly roll out and apply fondant to a cake:

I will be purchasing this mat soon, and will update you all on how the product performs in a normal kitchen.  The reviews I have come across have all been positive.  The only problem would be its 30 inch size, which is very large to work with, and you can't get a fold in it or the dent transfers into the fondant and is impossible to get out once imprinted.  

I'll keep you all posted!

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Caketastic

Here is a cupcake cake I made for a colleague's son's first birthday party:

The Elmo cupcake is for the birthday boy who is turning 1.  The other cake is a jungle themed cake and I had to make four of them.  The animals are made purely of fondant and the palm trees are piped royal icing on top of pretzel rods.

The four cakes took me three entire nights after work, but after it was all said and done, I think it was worth the work. 

For those of you in need of a laugh, check out Cakewrecks, a funny blog that makes pithy comments about professional cake disasters that blog readers submit pictures of.  They also sometimes show awesome cakes that are so impressive it's hard to pass up the opportunity to share the pictures.
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Playing with Sugar

I decided to test my artistic abilities at cake decorating.  Here are some of my creations for you to peruse:

This was my very first flower bouquet for a cake. I had taken the first of three cake decorating courses offered by Wilton at various locations (I chose a local Michael's by me), and this was the final project for the class, for which I received a certificate of completion and a coupon for the next course. I do plan on taking the next one, but I have decided to take a pottery course first.  I start working on the potter's wheel next week and I am extremely excited about it.  I have some experience with the wheel and am looking forward to honing my craft even more.

I made the cupcakes to my right for a fundraiser for Japan after the Tsunami of 2011 destroyed much of Northern Japan.  The company I work for held a bake sale on Take My Child to Work Day which was a really nice thing for the children to be a part of.  Instead of sitting in Mom or Dad's cubicle playing with rubber bands, the children were able to sell baked goods and other donations such as candy or Japan rubber band bracelets and plants, etc.  They had a blast and we were able to raise a nice amount to donate to the Red Cross.

The cute petal cups were purchased at a local Michael's store that has a big selection of Wilton products.  The pastel M&M's were a lucky find because Easter had just finished and the Easter candy sales had just begun.  I still need tons of practice at perfecting my drop flower technique but I think I got the icing swirl underneath down pretty well.

Here are some cute safari themed cupcakes I made for a colleague of mine who was holding her son's first birthday party.  I took a shortcut and bought the cute animal faces pre-made, along with the wraps on the outside of the cupcake wrapper, but I did bake them and fill them with vanilla pudding, then I added the icing grass with my spiffy new piping bag.  Overall they were a hit!

Here's a side view, showing the cute cupcake wraps that I found at Michael's.

This weekend I am attempting to make crab cakes with a red pepper puree dipping sauce and a cherry pie.  The last time I attempted crab cakes I could not get them to adhere, so check back Monday and see if I had success this time around!
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